Who is Peter Hain? The State Capture Inquiry’s “international witness”

UK MP Peter Hain is set to deliver a bout of explosive testimony at the State Capture Inquiry on Monday. The South African-born politician – who lived in Mzansi until he was 16 – dedicated his life to anti-apartheid activism and, more recently, has been hot on the heels of the Gupta brothers.

Peter Hain vs State Capture

It’s understood that Hain will reveal to the Commission just how state capture was allowed to function on an international level. Global banks and co-conspirators from across the world are expected to be named and shamed this week, as the witness shares his “insider knowledge” on the scourge of corruption in SA.

HSBC‚ Standard Chartered and the Bank of Baroda have all been explicitly named as banks who helped facilitate money laundering from the South African state, to the tune of R7 billion. A host of international corporations could also find themselves dragged through the mud. But who exactly is Peter Hain, and why has he lead this fight so diligently?

Who is Peter Hain? The essential guide:

Hain was educated in South Africa at Hatfield Primary School and Pretoria Boys High School and in London at Emanuel School. He then went to Queen Mary College, University of London, graduating with a first-class Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Political Science in 1973.

Peter Hain was a senior minister for twelve years in Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s Labour governments, where he served as Secretary of State for Wales and Northern Ireland, as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and as Leader of the Commons. But even during his time in the UK, he never stopped fighting for South Africa.

The Mzansi Connection

In 1972, the South African Security Services sent him a letter bomb that failed to explode because of faulty wiring. Four years later, Hain was tried for – and acquitted of – a 1975 bank theft, having allegedly been framed by the South African Bureau of State Security (BOSS). He also led national TV debates on the evils of apartheid, and fiercely campaigned to stop all-white South African sports teams from touring Britain.

His parents both served time in jail for their opposition to the apartheid system. Peter Hain’s father was an architect by trade, and their constant brushes with the law forced them to move abroad. The MP has written 21 books in total, including a number of biographies on the life and achievements of Nelson Mandela.

Married with two sons and six grandchildren, he is a keen football, rugby, cricket and motorsport fan. His visits to South Africa these days are largely for pleasure rather than business, barring his visiting professor role at Wits University. However, Monday promises to be an iconic day at the State Capture Inquiry.